mpkg

mpkg is package manager / application management tool providing option for having portable applications that will run on (almost) any software and hardware configuration

moreover these packages / apps are human-managable - you can install/uninstall/update them only using file manager and text editor (or just terminal)

current status

(CURRENTLY THIS PROJECT IS IN EARLY DEVELOPEMENT STAGE AND THE FUNCTIONALITY IS QUITE LIMITED)

mpkg can run either:
self-contained linux applications: AppDir / AppImage (extracted to be AppDir ~optional) / any user-made (expected to be self-contained or be run systems having required dependencies)
portable windows applications: any portable application (being it directory or single exe)
scripts

the packages can be managed "by hand" - by simply adding/removing directories with binaries

file format

`MPKG` file

present in every version directory, describes all files there

(currently only python format is availible)

example:

version = '1'

the version of the package

compatible_100 = '1'

(optional) identifies if the package is 100% compatible with the mpkg concept of "is portable, doesnt leave any files outside its directory" requirements:

the version package never changes its contents
if the app stores any configs it should be able to relocate them to the right directory (and those should be cross-platform and ideally cross-version)
when storing temporary files, it should use the system default directory

content = [{
	'name' : 'runme',
	'file' : '$MPKG_PACKAGE/runme',
	'args' : '$MPKG_ARGS --use-config "$MPKG_DATA"',
	'type' : 'binary',
	'os' : 'linux',
	'architecture' : 'AMD64'
	},
	...]

list of dicts describing all the interesting files keys:

file - file this entry is refering to (in case of binaries, there may/should be also the config parameters for portable mode, then everything should be properly quotated with "), you will have to use following variables: $MPKG_DATA, $MPKG_PACKAGE, $MPKG_ARGS (or %MPKG_PACKAGE% and so)
args - when file is binary, command line options that relocate the configs, you should use following variables: $MPKG_DATA, $MPKG_PACKAGE, $MPKG_ARGS (or %MPKG_PACKAGE% and so)
name - ie. command or library invocation name
type - type of the file (possible values: binary, script-<one of supported types>, library, source, headers/include)
os - name of operating system this file is for natively (or blank)
architecture - compatible processor architecture
note: type,os and architecture are optional - can be auto-detected for ELF binaries (includes AppImages), PE executables and scripts with shebang (except those that use some binaries - in fact all use, but those in the package represent the problem)

`*.mpkg` file

is the package settings file (sets all the what, when and how to run)
(the format is not completed yet; only python format again) example:

run_default = 'runme'

says what to run when the file = the package is run by default

prefered_variants = 'runme-win64-v0.1.0,runme-linux64-v2.3.0'

version selection (comma-separated list of variant that are prefered - you can run older version/differen version on linux an windows)

disabled_variants = 'runme-win64-v0.1.0,runme-linux64-v2.3.0'

version selection (comma-separated list of variant that are disabled - you can run force running nonnative versions - this time likely win32)

add_to_path = 'runme'

adds binary to path

add_to_apps = 'runme'

creates shortcut to the binary for app menu/etc

notes = 'this is an example\n😀'

user notes

directory structure

/<package name>/data/* - directories for user data
/<package name>/package/* - directories containing binaries, libs, header files, etc (should be read-only)
/<package name>/src - currently place for any file used when handcrafting the package, in the future it may be used for self-building packages
/<package name>/*.mpkg - mpkg file, se above\

todos

OVERRIDE CONFIG PARAMETERS
ERROR/MISSING HANDLING
APP SUPPORT WITH FANCY NAME AND ICON
RESEARCH python pip venv AND OTHER LANGUAGES (LIKE java)
OS VERSION SUPPORT
SELF BUILDABLE PACKAGES
DEPENDENCY SUPPORT
SANDBOXING/PERMISSIONS
ADD DOCKER/OCI
RESEARCH FatELF
APP DB / mpkg install (native)
common/per-version portable commands + portable workarounds
variant-builder (MPKG)
mpkg install-appimage/install-appdir
return back override of file autodetect (os,type,architecture in MPKG)

mi4code/mpkg